Do you believe your struggle with anger stems from the wrong behavior you see displayed in your children? The knee-jerk reactions and blowups you're facing are often a result of a bigger set of "triggers". Some of these are external, like a child's disobedience, back talk, or selective hearing, while others are internal, like an overflowing schedule, sleep deprivation, or perhaps your own painful experiences from childhood.

Uncommon common sense

This book gives gentle, sensible responses to real situations and specifically includes Autism and other issues we parents deal with. A great set of answers to the harsh opinions we hear in our heads.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Detecting Deceit

The Most Dangerous Sexual Predators Never Let You See Them Coming

By:
Eric Dupree,
Olivia Dupree

Narrated by:
Susan Fouche,
Eric Dupree

Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins

Unabridged

Overall

5 out of 5 stars
4

Performance

5 out of 5 stars
4

Story

5 out of 5 stars
4

There is an invisible enemy hunting our teens. An enemy so cunning he is almost completely undetectable, and once he sets out in pursuit of his target, no teen can escape him. How do you protect yourself or your family from an enemy you don't even know exists? Even those who do know about this threat don't know how to protect themselves or their family, so they do nothing.

First of Many

If you could sum up Detecting Deceit in three words, what would they be?

This is a book I needed to read forty years ago.

What other book might you compare Detecting Deceit to and why?

I am hoping that this will start a trend of similar books; there is nothing out there like this today.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, and then backed it up to listen again.

Any additional comments?

This absolutely is useful for people who don't have modern media as a factor. I was gobsmacked at how clearly the authors described what happened in the social bullseye around the abuser and victims.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

The Little Book of Talent

52 Tips for Improving Your Skills

By:
Daniel Coyle

Narrated by:
Grover Gardner

Length: 1 hr and 51 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,479

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,287

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,265

Daniel Coyle spent the last few years traveling around the world and meeting with top coaches, teachers, and neurologists in order to unlock the secret of how greatness happens. Now he has taken his groundbreaking research and boiled it down to the essentials: 52 simple, proven rules for developing and growing talent in sports, art, music, business, or just about anything.

Regular Tune-up

I come back to this book over and over again, and give it to other people. Possibly my top value audiobook ever.

NeuroTribes

The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

By:
Steve Silberman

Narrated by:
William Hughes

Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,433

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,289

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,286

What is autism: a lifelong disability or a naturally occurring form of cognitive difference akin to certain forms of genius? In truth, it is both of these things and more - and the future of our society depends on our understanding it.
Wired reporter Steve Silberman unearths the secret history of autism, long suppressed by the same clinicians who became famous for discovering it, and finds surprising answers to the crucial question of why the number of diagnoses has soared in recent years.

Good Contrast to "In a Different Key"

Everything you know is wrong, Hurray!

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-28-15

What was one of the most memorable moments of NeuroTribes?

The descriptions of the lives of children under the care of Lovass. My son was actually in therapy based on his methods, and after two sessions the therapists demanded I step out during the sessions. Instead we both quit. What a good call that was!

11 of 19 people found this review helpful

So You've Been Publicly Shamed

By:
Jon Ronson

Narrated by:
Jon Ronson

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
4,379

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,935

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,905

From the Sunday Times top ten bestselling author of The Psychopath Test, a captivating and brilliant exploration of one of our world's most underappreciated forces: shame. 'It's about the terror, isn't it?' 'The terror of what?' I said. 'The terror of being found out.' For the past three years, Jon Ronson has travelled the world meeting recipients of high-profile public shamings. The shamed are people like us - people who, say, made a joke on social media that came out badly, or made a mistake at work.

Thank You To All Who Recommended This!

Sneaks up on you

What made the experience of listening to So You've Been Publicly Shamed the most enjoyable?

I have read other books by Jon Ronson, and had expectations. This is not an expose sort of book. The second listen gave me time to see how he came to a very surprising (to me, anyway) conclusion.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

People like to be looked at. It's a pretty simple idea. Being the parent who stays looking into the play place makes you a very great parent by kid standards, and if you are willing to go up with them -- ever -- it's as if you hung the moon. We never outgrow wanting to be seen and included.

3 of 6 people found this review helpful

The Art of Asking

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help

By:
Amanda Palmer,
Brené Brown (foreword)

Narrated by:
Amanda Palmer

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,767

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,570

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,559

In
The Art of Asking, Palmer expands upon her popular TED talk to reveal how ordinary people, those of us without thousands of Twitter followers and adoring fans, can use her principles in our own lives to "let people help".

Amanda lives in the world I live in

This is a book best listened to in a group of people and then hearing the book as heard by all the people.

What other book might you compare The Art of Asking to and why?

The book most like this is one I found in my grandmother's collection, the Art of Writing by Dorothea Brande because of the courage of their voices. That book is now on Audible; check it out.

Which scene was your favorite?

When her husband proposed -- over and over again.

What insight do you think you’ll apply from The Art of Asking?

Now I know someone famous does stuff I've done all along.

Any additional comments?

Like Dorothea, Amanda is way ahead of her time. I plan on living in a world with many of her kind if I live long enough -- and humanity will be better for it.

5 of 7 people found this review helpful

High Price

A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society

By:
Carl Hart

Narrated by:
J. D. Jackson

Length: 11 hrs and 48 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
498

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
448

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
448

A pioneering neuroscientist shares his story of growing up in one of Miami's toughest neighborhoods and how it led him to his groundbreaking work in drug addiction. As a youth, Carl Hart didn't realize the value of school; he studied just enough to stay on the basketball team. At the same time, he was immersed in street life. Today he is a cutting-edge neuroscientist - Columbia University's first tenured African American professor in the sciences.

Does what it says it does

A reality that makes sense

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-03-14

What did you love best about High Price?

I loved the book that was not written, Without going out and saying so explicitly every time Carl Hart made a choice that changed the direction of his life at least one other "how this could have gone down" was clearly available. It was like an origami book, folding in on itself every which way.

What other book might you compare High Price to and why?

I don't know if this counts as a book but my first reaction to finishing it was to go to people I had not talked to in years, make re connections, and collect their stories while they still could. This book reminds me of the best of what autobiographies can do and made me wish to collect my own.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Hard looking

Any additional comments?

I wish that this book could be read by everyone, especially people who are at the social far ends.

Night School

Wake Up to the Power of Sleep

By:
Richard Wiseman

Narrated by:
Peter Noble

Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
125

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
110

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
110

Almost a third of your whole life is spent asleep.
Night School uncovers the scientific truth about the sleeping brain - and gives powerful tips on how those hours of apparently ‘dead’ time in the dark can transform your waking life.

One half of a very good book

One half of a very good book

Overall

5 out of 5 stars

Performance

5 out of 5 stars

Story

5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-03-14

Would you listen to Night School again? Why?

I'm going to be listening to the back half of this book over and over again. The ongoing research and instructions for lucid dreaming will take time to learn but puts into words something that I have done myself since my teen years.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The idea that your dream life can be a video game of your waking life allowing you to create new paths to go on, to practice and rehearse, and to explore so that you have the opportunity to experience in your waking time a far richer and more confident "time when it counts".

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

How to succeed in Dreamland without really trying

Any additional comments?

The beginning of the book covers the history of sleep research, which I think everyone knows. I enjoyed his retelling of Thomas Edison's flexibility with the truth as far as how much he in fact slept. Taking another look at The Wizard of Menlo Park's life as opposed to his legends is pretty common lately but both Peter Noble and author Richard Wiseman gave an especially funny "behind the curtain" look at a not so well known figure in history.

10 of 10 people found this review helpful

Lost Enlightenment

Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane

By:
S. Frederick Starr

Narrated by:
Kevin Stillwell

Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
275

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
241

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
241

Lost Enlightenment recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects.

The rich, personal and true to the moment exchanges between the people who created history. It's possible to have a dialog with a book and this is one of the best examples I've ever read on how someone can have as a mentor someone hundreds of years in the past.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The most gut wrenching moment for me was the author's candid, frank and short explanation of why this period produced no women who were great lights. This came early in the book and in it explained how so much learning never passed out of the courts and to the common people.

Any additional comments?

I hope to find more of the source material and read it, then return and read this book again.

12 of 12 people found this review helpful

Confessions of a Sociopath

A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight

By:
M. E. Thomas

Narrated by:
Bernadette Sullivan

Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
446

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
383

Story

4 out of 5 stars
387

As M. E. Thomas says of her fellow sociopaths, we are your neighbors, co-workers, and quite possibly the people closest to you: lovers, family, friends. Our risk-seeking behavior and general fearlessness are thrilling, our glibness and charm alluring. Our often quick wit and outside-the-box thinking make us appear intelligent - even brilliant. We climb the corporate ladder faster than the rest, and appear to have limitless self-confidence.... Who are we? We are highly successful, non-criminal sociopaths and we comprise 4% of the American population (that's 1 in 25 people!).

Interested in this book in spite of the author

If I could give my brain a long, hot shower

Overall

3 out of 5 stars

Performance

4 out of 5 stars

Story

3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-21-13

What did you like best about Confessions of a Sociopath? What did you like least?

I Loved the contradictions and internal disconnect -- I've rarely seen the concept of a person without empathy more clearly acted out. For someone to express that they are broken, abused and stunted while at the same time crowing that they are the apex and possibly an improved part of the human condition -- yes, that's these people at their most two dimensional. What I liked least was the lingering feeling of pity. The mood brought on by reading hung on after like a bad smell.

Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?

The concepts were overexplained and the book could have gotten in and out in a much shorter time.